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Is There a Best Day of the Week to Search for Jobs?

Posted September 23rd, 2015

This may surprise you, but that question does have a clear answer: Tuesday.

A 2015 study from SmartRecruiters recognized that companies tend to post jobs on Tuesday…and most places extend job offers on Tuesdays as well. If you think about it logically, it makes sense: Monday tends to be a bit frenzied; that’s the day used to plan the week and get everything organized. By Tuesday, the dust has settled a bit and there’s time to post positions. So how can you best take advantage of this?

Get yourself ready over the weekend and Monday.

Take some time to tighten up your resume, and put together a basic cover letter you can adjust as needed. Make a list of companies you want to look at or positions in your field you’d like to apply for. After you make those lists, you may also want to take some time to review where companies post their jobs — do they have a specific career/job opening page? Do you want to look through Linkedin? Indeed? Monster? See if you know anyone connected to the places you’re most likely to apply to…it always helps to have a reference or inside track. Finally, consider making a spreadsheet with the date you applied and where you applied to. Leave room for updates, either from the company itself or follow-ups you initiated.

Make the most of Tuesday morning.

The same SmartRecruiters study found that most jobs were posted on Tuesdays by 11 a.m. — the morning hurry had settled and HR had time to post positions…just in time to see who applied first during their lunch break. Most job seekers apply around 2 p.m., which makes for a 3-hour window to get your application in. While it’s not quite first-come, first-serve, you’ll probably get a better look from a potential employer if you’re one of the early applicants. So if you have your resume perfected, all you have to do is tailor your cover letter appropriately and fill out any necessary forms as soon as you see a posting.

Stay strong for the rest of the day.

Even if you don’t get your application in before noon, keep checking to see who else has posted during the day and act accordingly. Once you’ve sent one in, update your spreadsheet and, again, see if you have any connections (this is where using LinkedIn can help tremendously) that you can contact. Make it a goal to find a certain number of prospects and apply. Basically, you want to end the day knowing you did everything you could for your job search on that Tuesday with no regrets or “I should haves.”

If you need help with your job search on any day of the week, visit PrideStaff. They’ll help make your job search that much easier.